Who did I beat?
When I started wrestling at age 8, my first lost came to a kid named Kirk Bartol. I lost 5-4 at the Stoughton Invitational. A few weeks later, at the final tournament of the year before regionals, I met Bartol first match again. Although I was scared and nervous, i managed to win this time by the same score of 5-4. After the match, Kirk’s father mentioned to my father that he was in the State finals the year before.
When I was a freshman in college, I wrestled at the Northern Open at 134. My third match or so was against a kid named Bob Berceu from Stevens Point. I recognized the name, but didn’t know any details. After I came off the mat the winner by pin, my father informed me that he was a 3-time State Champion in high school. The next match was someone I had never heard of, named Jim Wagner of Illinois State University. I also won by pin and was again informed after the match that he was Division II NCAA runner-up.
None of this was done really “on purpose”, but it shows a trend in my match preparation throughout my career. I also tried to focus as little as possible on my opponent. My match preparation always had to do with stretching, getting warmed up, mentally preparing and visualizing, focussing, and so on. I did not think about or focus on who I was wrestling, what he did in the past, how good he was, or how strong or fast he was. If you focus on your opponent, it will create nervous energy and decrease your ability to perform. You will walk out on the mat so concerned about what your opponent “did” or “will do” that your offense will shut down and you will become totally defensive. You will be concentrating so much on what you “think” he will do that you won’t be able to react to what he “does”.
Now, granted, sometimes it is impossible not to know about your opponent. Obviously throughout my career when I wrestled against someone like Dennis Hall, or Doug Kittleson, I knew who they were, what they had done, and what their strong points were. Although I will admit that the very first time I wrestled both of those guys, I knew nothing about them. But even when I was going out to wrestle against someone like Tom Brands, whom I never beat, I never focussed much on what Brands was going to do, but rather what I intended to do in the match.
This is a common mistake that novice wrestlers make. They watch their opponent in wram-ups. They think about him and focus on what they might think to be his strong points. In their head they hear a voice saying things like “wow, he looks pretty strong. I better watch out he doesn’t catch me in a headlock”. Or “That guy has a ton of medals hanging on his jacket, he must be good”. All of these thoughts are working against their success. Focus on the basic things. Make match preparation a routine that is followed and focus on that regardless of the opponent, and you will guarantee a more level and consistent result each and every time you walk out on the mat.
Finally, we have all heard of cases where certain wrestlers have “wrestled above their head” and beaten someone that no one expected them to beat. Some wrestlers kind of make a habit of this. How do they do it? Well, at least on part of this I can be certain of is that they are never focussing on their opponent. Whether they are going against Joe Shmoe, or Tom Brands, they walk out on the mat with the exact same frame of mind and when the whistle blows, the expect to walk off that match the winner.
This is a vital piece of the puzzle that all champions possess.